Goals Series: How to Overcome Your Work Challenges

How do you feel about work lately? Stress, worry and workplace challenges all affect how happy, healthy and comfortable we feel at work. Looking after your wellbeing at work is important to avoid burnout. And when we tackle workplace challenges correctly, we can grow professionally and emotionally. Here are things that may affect your well-being in the workplace – and how you can tackle them.

1. Stress

Deadlines, presentations and targets are just a few of the things that contribute to workplace stress. To understand yourself and your work habits better, keep track of the times you feel stressed to better understand what can be done to alleviate it.

For example, if you notice you feel most stressed before meetings, schedule 10 minutes before each meeting to go over your notes so you feel more prepared. If part of your job is back to back meetings, make sure to give yourself a 15 min buffer between meetings. Meeting tools such as Calendly and YouCanBookMe can help with just that.

2. Fears

There are many fears that can hold us back professionally. Public speaking, flying, presentations and other routine parts of work can cause stress and anxiety.

Be upfront with your superiors about your concerns and discuss ways in which you can overcome these fears. By sharing with a colleague, you’ll have someone who can check in on your progress as you make steps – such as reading books and seeking help. ToastMasters is an organisation that helps with public speaking and communication skills, while MeetUp gathers people with similar interests – a great way to explore new social dynamics and build confidence outside the workplace.

3. Confidence

As mentioned above, fears can hold us back at work, but sometimes it’s our own self-belief that halts our progress. Sometimes people feel like a ‘fraud’ at work. Imposter syndrome is defined as a psychological pattern where people doubt their accomplishments and have a fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.